"Just Barely" Pregnant PS''ers

[dcgator]

geri: I am happy to hear that all is well with your hcg levels. I am sure it will make you fell better now and when you get your scan next week, you will feel even better.

noelwr: Sorry for the really bad m/s. I hope that is subsides soon as you move into another trimester...

As to the what planning/things have I done pre-baby, its funny you should ask b/c DH and I were just talking about baby names the night before last. We have agreed on 2 or 3 girl names, although boy names are proving a bit more difficult.

Although we are still only in the TTC phase, we have also casually discussed what to do with the 2nd bedroom. Right now we have a bed and desk in there and clearly that will need a major overhaul when the little one comes.

Other than that, we haven''t done many concrete buying or decorating, just a lot of planning

 

[Mara]

noel re: the extra saliva, i had that too and i hated it. i also had 1st tri heartburn so combo''d with that and the nausea, ugh it felt so icky. i read a few things for the saliva, things like chewing gum are supposed to help. drinking fluids helped too. i drank a lot of sugary drinks like lemonade and juice, which was weird because i typically don''t --i used to drink water almost exclusively, but it seemed to help. water made me more nauseated...i have only returned to drinking water exclusively in the last trimester. i read that the saliva was your body''s response to having nausea and heartburn or something. i was like THANKS. hahaa. but it does go away, so as fun as it''s not, it is a temporary symptom. try googling for remedies, i can only remember the gum one.

re: crazy hormones, mine were the worst in the first tri i think. well i had a meltdown in 2nd tri too. but since then i feel ''mostly'' even keel. i don''t have a lot of crazy hormones in general so maybe that means i have less than the average pregnant bear, who knows...but i have felt bad for my hub the few times i am kinda wacky,

 

[noelwr]

dcgator - yes, aren''t boys'' names so difficult? well, for me it''s because I don''t want to use any common names. so other than the one I picked out, I can''t think of any other that I like.

Mara - again thanks for your wisdom. I was telling myself when I go out for lunch I should buy those vitamin C candies to suck on when I have the saliva problem (it''s a vicious circle to be nauseous, and then salivate because of the nausea, and then become nauseous because of the saliva). but of course I forgot to buy some! what will I do with myself?

 

[Mara]

lol well when i was feeling sickly i didn''t even WANT to stop at the drugstore. it took me like 3 weeks to get TUMS even and i just got the most monstrous bottle i could find hoping i wouldn''t have to get another one (btw i am 3/4 of the way through it so hoping it will last me 6.5 more weeks!). the vit c drops to suck on would prob be a good idea in general esp during sick season!

 

[jcrow]

Date: 12/16/2009 4:16:06 AM
Author: noelwr
geri - I''m so glad it all turned out well. I''m convinced that the first u/s with a good heartbeat will help to settle the nerves. hopefully you''ll be able see a heartbeat in next week''s scan.


somethingshiny - keeping my fingers crossed for you that m/s will become less and go away completely.


Mara - thanks for the tip, though I luckily have hardly any smell/food aversions. the only thing I''m turning off of is tea! and this is crazy considering I am Queen Tea, and all I ever drank was green, white and any natural teas (never black tea). so now I quite like hot water with a slice of lemon. had to bring slices into work today. have you got any tips for this m/s and saliva problem? when I occasionally feel nauseous, the saliva in my mouth builds and that makes me feel even more nauseous. the only thing that seems to help is to keep eating... but I really don''t want to gain weight!

re: saliva - that was exactly my problem in the beginning. i think i also had/have extra mucus thrown in for fun too. blah! i still have it, but at least i don''t throw up anymore. and like you, i felt like as long as i was eating something i felt okay, but as soon as i stop, i felt yucky immediately! what works for me is drink hot water + lemon and chewing gum. i put in a piece of gum as soon as i''m finished eating.

 

[jcrow]

double post.

 

[noelwr]

yes, I''m drinking the hot water + lemon, but even that got too much this morning.


need help with something else. my mom sent me an e-mail asking if I would like to attend a sushi-making workshop with her. obviously I''d normally say yes because it''s great she wants to do something with me, but I can''t eat sushi now! and she doesn''t know about me being preggers because that''s going to be Christmas news. so I thought I''d be clever and I wrote back, "What I''d like to do more than make sushi is a chocolate making workshop!" and then she wrote "But when are you actually going to make your own chocolate at home?" and I wrote back "Well, I''m not going to make sushi at home either." yikes! this is getting out of hand and I hope she doesn''t think I''m ungrateful. I mean once it''s x-mas I''ll explain why, but stop with the questions already!!!

 

[Puppmom]

Geri, I''m so glad things are looking up! That sounds like great news. I think it''s a fantastic sign that your HCG has risen within guidelines. I''m a worrier too (far more obsessive than I was before) so I understand how you feel.

Noel, I''m sorry you''re feeling sick. I have queasiness but nothing more so far in that department. Eating usually helps.

NS, how did your appointment go?

One more day until our U/S. I can''t wait. The excitement outweighs my anxiety at this point and hopefully we''ll get good news tomorrow and that will continue.

 

[oobiecoo]

Thats great news Geri!

As far as planning baby stuff before getting pregnant... well I had a definitely had a while to think about it all. DH and I came up with a couple of names we really like but are still searching for others. I was also really into researching strollers and watched all of the Baby Gizmo stroller reviews on Youtube

. We really like the Uppababy vista and I''coo. I know alot of moms say to just get a smaller stroller or snap''n''go but I think I''m a big stroller mommma. We just need to figure out if we really want to spend that kind of money on a stroller. I also researched cloth diapering alot before we got pg.

Is anyone else considering a natural birth?

 

[somethingshiny]

For MS my doc recommended B12. I took it for a couple days but ended up feeling worse. My mom (who must have had the best doctor 30 years ago) said that she had taken B12 but also ended up getting sicker. I still think it''s cool that her doc knew to give her folic acid and the B12 long before it was standard practice. Anyway, I''ve talked to other women who swear by the B12 so maybe it''ll help one of you.

My biggest MS trigger right now seems to be the chemically ones. Aerosol shaving cream, prescription deodorant, and the harsh cleaning products. Of course these are just the latest on the list that includes coconut (which I usually love), dirty dishes, cinnamon and my husband.

As for planning, since this is our second we''ve begun going through things. My sis has a little boy who''s a year younger than JT. We got all of the stuff back so that''s more to look through. I need to put the usable items in boxes according to size and male or unisex. We still have a crib, highchair, stroller, etc but need to check the car seats. We have several names picked out but have to wait to see what my SIL names her baby in a couple weeks since she so kindly decided she liked a name that we had chosen. (we were not pregnant when I told her names that we wanted for our next child...) If it''s a boy we''ll possibly reuse JT''s crib bedding and if it''s a girl I have a quilt that I''ll make into crib bedding. We need to get JT a twin bed so we can get the crib mattress from his toddler bed. We''ll redo his room at the same time so it eases the blow of losing his playroom to the baby. Since I know I''m having a c-section I''m trying to get my core muscles in good shape for an easier recovery. I''ll also have to help JT go from being a lap sitter to his own butt. I''m trying to plan what to do this summer with JT. He''s used to going swimming, going to the creek, fishing, and hiking. I doubt there''ll be much of that this year so I''m trying to find some other fun things for him and make sure he has a nice pool for the yard. I also need to research the baby wearing things to possibly partake in some of the usual activities.

Hope you''re all feeling well today!

 

[somethingshiny]

Date: 12/16/2009 1:34:17 PM
Author: oobiecoo


Is anyone else considering a natural birth?

oobie~ With my first I was all about natural birth. I prepped myself for 14 hours of labor (a number I thought I couldn''t possibly surpass!!) and a no-drug delivery. I ended up being induced but avoided the epidural for a long time. (after 12 hours of cervidil and 14 hours of pitocin, I gave in to the girl with the epidural). I do think that because I had prepared myself for natural birth, I was in a good place mentally to handle the stress of induction and the emergency c-section. Obviously I was surprised but it couldn''t have gone any better. I focused a lot on the exercises to ease labor and delivery throughout my pregnancy and I think that''s what allowed me to recover so quickly too.

Good luck to all of you considering going natural, but remember, you don''t get an award for it. If it gets too much there are other options.

I think natural birth is awesome and everyone should consider it.

 

[oobiecoo]

I''m really worried... just discovered that I''m spotting. I hope its doesn''t mean anything.

 

[somethingshiny]

oobie~ Spotting could be caused by lots of benign things. Don''t worry. Call the doc and make an appt ASAP. Also, if you feel it''s a bit more than spotting, you can go to the ER. With JT, I was bleeding a bit and my doc did a really early US to make sure that everything was okay. Prayers outgoing for you and the bean!

 

[noelwr]

somethingshiny - wow, you actually have to do double planning! for your son AND for the new little one.

oobiecoo - I have read that spotting can be common in some women. if it''s bright red, gets heavier or is followed by severe cramping, then I would get it checked out with an u/s and everything.

what do you mean by "natural birth"? as opposed to c-section or do you mean no drugs at all?

where I live, you have to give natural birth. c-section or inducing is only done when complications arise (or if it''s known prior that it is a high-risk pregnancy). it''s not something we can opt for. if I could, I would make a c-section appointment tomorrow! but I will go with the natural birth at the hospital and with epidural. I''m not really into the natural thing. I''m into the least pain-for-me thing, as selfish as that is, though I hear c-section is no vacation the weeks following. either way, I don''t have a choice.


oh by the way, I am 8 weeks preggers today! I won''t go into the detail of my symptoms since I post on here every day, but I''m feeling quite positive because so far nothing has been out of the ordinary. and even though being nauseous sometimes sucks, I consider myself lucky that I''m not vomiting, no headaches, no mood swings.

 

[oobiecoo]

I called my doc yesterday and she told me to come in if it gets any worse. I had what looked like a tiny little bit of tissue/clotting in it so I''m calling to come in for an ultrasound as soon as they open today. It wasn''t bright red though... just brown and its almost stopped this morning so I''m feeling a little more optimistic.


Noelwr- I meant both actually... I realized later that I should have specified. I feel like with the right preparation-probably Bradley classes- that I could anticipate and tolerate the pain pretty well without drugs and hopefully not having to have a c-section. I''m seriously considering using a birthing center because they let you walk around or whatever you want to do during labor to help with pain and most hospitals aren''t very open to that.

Congrats on 8 weeks! Maybe you''ll be one of the lucky ones who NEVER gets the vomiting. My cousin-in-law is pregnant via IVF with twins and she hasn''t been sick a single day. I''m still amazed by it!

 

[noelwr]

oobiecoo - I hope you can get an appointment today. and if you do, I hope that they find nothing is wrong.
I admire your bravery and strength for wanting to prepare for a natural birth. if you are able to do it, that''s wonderful.
twins and never sick?!? sounds super lucky!

puppmom - how did the appointment go today?

 

[lovelylulu]

oobie,

I had some spotting early on (around week 6/7) and then again around week (11/12), both turned out to be fine. Spotting is apparently quite common in the first trimester, so like noelwr wrote - if it''s not bright red and there is no cramping, it''s probably nothing. glad that you''re going to your doctor though, I know what a worry it is to see. hang in there and report back the good news!

 

[Puppmom]

I posted this in the preggo thread because I owe them for talking me off the ledge

Back from my ultrasound and all is good. Heartbeat was 133bpm and I''m measuring 6w4d which is one day ahead. I cannot put into words the sense of relief I feel. I know it''s still early but I''m grateful that things are as good as they can be at this point.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 12/17/2009 5:40:22 PM
Author: puppmom
I posted this in the preggo thread because I owe them for talking me off the ledge

Back from my ultrasound and all is good. Heartbeat was 133bpm and I''m measuring 6w4d which is one day ahead. I cannot put into words the sense of relief I feel. I know it''s still early but I''m grateful that things are as good as they can be at this point.

THat''s great news puppmom!!!

 

[somethingshiny]

Great US, puppmom!!

Oobie~ hope things are going well with you today.

 

[noelwr]

puppmom - that's awesome! is there an u/s photo you can share with us? am interested to see what it looks like.

yesterday I had horrible indigestion... well, only once. if I had to go to the toilet the whole day I would have worried about food poisoning. but I have to say, I'd rather have that than constipation or nausea! is it weird to actually prefer one syptom over another? I don't even know if that was a symptom or just a normal case of a sore tummy.

 

[oobiecoo]

Thats great puppmom! I don''t remember where it was (on here, maybe?) but I read something that said after seeing the heartbeat your miscarriage risk drops DRASTICALLY. I''ll keep my fingers crossed for you that things continue to go wonderfully!

DH and I went to the doctor yesterday about the spotting but I had to see the male doctor who I''ve never met before and wasn''t sure I''d be comfortable with. He ended up being really great actually and did an exam and ultrasound. He said my cervix looks good and is closed and he pointed out the yolk sac on the screen!!! He did send me for the blood test to make sure my levels are rising but my 2nd test isn''t until Saturday so I won''t get the results until Mon or Tues. Basically, everything looks as good as possible at this very early stage, just crossing my fingers now about the blood test. I''m 6 weeks today but the baby is smaller than most at 6 weeks because I ovulate a little later due to longer cycles.

 

[oobiecoo]

Date: 12/18/2009 4:49:48 AM
Author: noelwr
puppmom - that''s awesome! is there an u/s photo you can share with us? am interested to see what it looks like.


yesterday I had horrible indigestion... well, only once. if I had to go to the toilet the whole day I would have worried about food poisoning. but I have to say, I''d rather have that than constipation or nausea! is it weird to actually prefer one syptom over another? I don''t even know if that was a symptom or just a normal case of a sore tummy.

I had bloating and indigestion REALLY bad around implantation time but now its just in the afternoons/evenings

. I think I''d take any other symptom over these two. Well, I guess the bloat wouldn''t be too bad if I could actually wear maternity clothes already

BTW, I tried on some maternity jeans yesterday and LOVE them! Can''t wait to actually buy some in a few weeks.

 

[somethingshiny]

oobie~ Yay for a good visit!! lol about the maternity pants. I just tried mine on the other day because my sis had them for a while. She ruined one pair completely, got paint on another pair and shrunk up a 3rd pair!! The short pair I''ll still wear around the house, but that only leaves me with one nice pair of pants. I was really hoping I wouldn''t have to buy too much this time. I should check around online for some clearance maternity capris.....

 

[noelwr]

oobiecoo - I''m glad everything is looking as well it can for 6 weeks.

may I ask where you got these maternity jeans? I''m going to the States in Feb and making notes of all the thing I should get.

I think I had happy hormones this morning. last night I dreamt that I had the baby and I woke up in the middle of the night (in my dreams) and couldn''t understand why I hadn''t heard the baby cry once. so I went to the baby''s room (by the way, in my dreams I lived in a beautiful huge mansion) and it was sleeping and only woke up for like 10 sec to breast feed (which felt really weird, though IRL I have no idea what it feels like) and then fell asleep again. I got worried that it hadn''t had milk the whole time, but the midwife was there and told me she had been bottle feeding because I had been so sound asleep that I didn''t hear it crying. and then I knew that it was well taken care of. so the moral of this story is... where can I find a midwife in the real world that''s going to stick around at night to feed my baby?

but then I woke up and was really happy and imagining what it was like to feel my own baby in my arms. the first time I thought of that since I knew I was pregnant.

 

[somethingshiny]

Aww, Noel, that''s a sweet dream. I had dreams of breastfeeding when I was pregnant with JT. Ironically, actual breastfeeding felt very similar.

I have an awful cold and haven''t been sleeping well.

OH, I had to go to the dermatologist yesterday and I found out something. Apparently, you''re not supposed to use salicylic acid while pregnant. That''s actually one thing I''d never been warned about. I never even considered the products I put on my face as being potentially harmful to the baby.

 

[oobiecoo]

The maternity jeans I tried were at Motherhood Maternity. They have different washes and styles and these had the "secret fit belly" which is a seamless stretchy thing that covers the entire belly so there aren''t any lines showing under your shirt. They also had petite sizes which is awesome for me!

I really need to check on my face gel that I use... I told the assistant I was using it when I went in this week but I doubt she checked to see if it was harmful. I think its the generic of Metrogel for rosacea... does anyone know if that might be harmful?

Noelwr, get your hubby to round up any women in the family and put together a help schedule lol. DH said he wants to do that for me... maybe that way you really could have someone to help feed in the middle of the night!

Somethingshiny, I hope you get to feeling better so you can sleep well!

 

[Mara]

glad you gals seem to be doing great and good news on the visit oobie. hope your next test goes great.

re: loving mat pants, that is so funny, i have hated almost every pair i have tried!!! i am SO ready to be back in regular clothes... i know some gals wear their mat pants long after the baby comes because they are comfy, but i am so motivated to never wear those things again, bah. i think it's because i don't like constricting ANYTHING and i feel like no matter what i try, over belly, under belly etc...it all feels like it is cutting into my belly or my pelvic area at some point, i think this is because he has always been sitting rather low on my body. i am 34 weeks now so not much is comfy but i have actually cut up the waists of a bunch of 'pre preggo' lounge pants to wear at home. i don't even care they look weird, its just at home and its much more comfy.

the only pants i really have liked that are mat are the gap stretch pants for under belly. the elastic is very soft and doesn't cut into anything. also no baggy butt, which is another thing i hate so far about mat pants. actually gap stuff in general has been my fave for maternity. a lot of target stuff i tried was too scratchy material (my skin got really sensitive during preggo) and/or had a weird fit.

oh and i think i mentioned these but the splendid jersey lounge pants are fabulous, they have them in non mat and mat...i have non mat ones that i bought one size larger and i am still able to wear them. the mat ones look the same (they are at pea in the pod) but with the more stretchy waist. i def want to get another pair of these...i have worn them so much in the last 6 months. oh they are foldover waist so that's why they seem to work well, you can put them over or under belly and its sooooo soft.

 

[geri]

Puppmom - congrats on the heartbeat. Best of luck for continuing good news.

Oobiecoo - I''m pleased the news has been good so far and hope the test results are good next week.

I have just got back from a long weekend away for a friend''s wedding. It was in a wine region so everything was very wine focussed. So hard not to have anything much to drink (I had a couple of "tastes" when we went wine tasting to avoid suspicion as much as anything else) and yet not be too obvious about it. I can''t wait till we can tell people so I am at least not distracted by trying to hide it!

 

[noelwr]

oooh... I didn''t know GAP sold maternity clothes. we don''t have a GAP where I live.

oobiecoo - that''s so sweet that your husband is going to do that. the only other woman in my family is my mother (all of DH''s family lives abroad) and I''m not going to bother her with my schedule. she lives 2 hours away and I want her to do only fun stuff with her first grandchild. I already accepted that it was my decision to have this kid and I''ll do what I need to do.

somethingshiny - what types of products can you find salicylic acid in?

does anyone take any medicine during their pregnancy? I have been so lucky to not have had to take anything so far, not even a paracetomol, but if I were to catch a cold, can I take a decongestant or should I just suffer through it? I''m definitely willing to suffer through it, but not if it''s not necessary.